Report, video and documents:
The group of rabbis from New York has clearly been padded by local Iowa Chabad rabbis.
For example, the thin Chabad rabbi seen at left seems to be Rabbi Schneur Cadaner, who is married to Rabbi Shlomo Bendet's daughter Chana. Bendet is executive director of the Lubavitch Cheder (Chabad-Lubavitch grade school) in Saint Paul, MN. Cadaner and his wife run Chabad of the Quad Cities in Davenport, Iowa.
The rabbi speaking is David Zwiebel, who is the executive VP for governmental affairs for Agudath Israel of America, the ultra-Orthodox umbrella organization.
Along with Zwiebel, the other rabbis from New York are: Rabbi Pesach Lerner, National Council of Young Israel; Rabbi Yaakov Wasser, Rabbinical Council of America; Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Igud Horabbonim; Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Orthodox Union and Rabbi Shimon Hecht, National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education.
Pesach Lerner led the Agriprocessors-paid rabbis junket to Agriprocessors last July that 'exonerated' Agriprocessors. Over 9300 counts of child labor violations were filed against the company and the Rubashkins only days later.
That was followed by federal indictments for harboring illegal aliens, identity theft and bank fraud, and more charges are said to be coming soon.
The RCA is, in effect, a subsidiary of the OU. Elefant is a senior official at OU Kosher – and therefore has a business relationship with Agriprocessors and the Rubashkins.
Gershon Tannenbaum is a longtime swindler with a 30 year record of frauds. The president of the organization he represents is Rabbi Abraham Hecht, a controversial Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi who is a longtime friend of Aaron Rubashkin. Shimon Hecht, also a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, is his nephew.
Elefant, Tannenbaum and the RCA's Wasser (who is also affiliated with Young Israel) all participated in the Agriprocessors-paid rabbis junket meant to exonerate the company and the Rubashkins, led by Lerner last July. Also on the junket was Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, Zwiebel's senior colleague at Agudath Israel of America.
Rubashkin now claims ICE agents and the US Government are lying about the evidence found during his second arrest, as you can see in the report posted below.
Again, I urge you to read the actual court documents so can see the claims of each side in context and made under oath. Links to these documents are posted below, including a pdf file of Rabbi Sholom M. Rubashkin's court filing alleging government misrepresentation filed yesterday.
Here is the story accompanying the above video. It has more details about Rubashkin's claims:
Rabbis call for Rubashkin to be released on bail
Dubuque (KWWL) -- Several rabbis from the New York area are campaigning for the release of former Agriprocessors CEO Sholom Rubashkin. The rabbis visitied Rubashkin in the Dubuque County jail Monday to offer spiritual support, and to address a federal court ruling in which Rubashkin was labeled a flight risk and denied bail.In previous court appearances, prosecutors said Israel's "Law of Return" that gives any Jew the right to obtain Israeli citizenship factors into the flight risk.
"This law was specifically enacted to address the situation of Jews who are second class citizens in other countries to enable them to have a place to come. It's so ironic and tragic that this law is now being pointed to keep a person like Mr. Rubashkin in jail," Rabbi David Zwiebel said.
Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, says other flight risk factors listed by the judge, including a packed travel bag containing passports and money, are false.
As of late Monday afternoon, Cook planned to file an appeal late Monday asking again for Rubashkin's release, saying (in the pre-filed version), "the Government's 'evidence of flight' is neither 'overwhelming' nor persuasive".
The pre-filed version goes on to say, "The so'called 'travel bag' is a tote bag, the cash amount was exaggerated, and included dollar bills and a coin collection, the 'lockboxes' were never locked and were fire boxes not use to store cash. The 'cash' was for family needs and expenses and has since been used to meet expenses.'
Cook said Rubashkin is still willing to offer using a 24-hour security team and ankle monitoring device if he is let out of jail. Cook says a $10 million dollar bail package, supported largely by Jews in the Postville area who are willing to post their homes as collateral, is still on the table. Rubashkin has also offered to sign a waiver of extradition.
A representative from the U.S. Attorney's Northern District of Iowa office offered no comment specific to Monday's meeting and said all public responses would be in the form of court-filed documentation. The most recent motion filed by the procesution was last week.
Online Reporter: Jamie Grey
Here is the new Rubashkin court filing.
Please click the icon in the upper right corner of the viewer window to enlarge the document and then click it again when you are finished reading to return to this post. (You can also download a copy from the pdf link at the bottom of this post.)
Court Documents, Including Prosecution's Motions, Rubashkin's Motions and the Judge's Decisions: Part 1, Part 2.
Rubashkin Response Filed 1-12-09 Alleging Government Misrepresentation:
Rubashkin Bail Response 1-12-09
Global Security Services Letter To The Court On Rubashkin Bail.
[Hat Tip: FGBA.]